Cigarette case



Aug. 25, 1942.

E. BERNHARDT CIGARETTE CASE Filed .July 11, 1940 I N V E N TO R. EDMUNDBERNHHRDT MXO Patented Aug. 25, 1942 UITED STATES angers CIGARETTE CASEEdmund Bernhardt, London, England Application July 11, 1940, Serial No.344,936 In Great Britain July 25, 1939 2 Claims.

provided whereby the lighter is automatically Z ignited upon closing thelid of the case. Prefer ably a control member is provided which projectsinto the range of movement of the lid of of, a tensioning ring isprovided which, when' the case, and adjustably mounted on the lighterthe said control member by its displacement" the closed position theignition device of the lighter, constructed for semi-automaticoperation, and

Figure 2 a section of the lighter along line II-II of Fig. 1.

Figure 3 shows the ignition device of the v lighter after the actuationof the trigger, that is to say, after the ignition of the wick notshown, while Figure 4 shows a section on its line IV-IV of Fig. 3.

Figure 5 shows in elevation part of one end of a lighter, while Figure 6illustrates in perspective view a cigarette case opened complete withthe inserted or built-in lighter.

The ignition device l of a lighter 2 is slidably insertable by means ofthe projecting walls 3 into a suitable recess 4 (Fig. 5) forming part ofthe top of the petrol container 5. The ignition device I is constructedin a manner known in itself and consists of the wick cap 6 which can berotated around an axis 1 upon which axis the friction wheel 8 isrotatably mounted in a known manner. A projection 9 on the cap 6 engagesa spring H), which is fastened at its other end to a trigger II. Thetrigger H can be swung about a pin 12 and co-operates with theprojection 9 of the cap 6 through the intermediary of the end l3 of thetrigger. The guide and pressing means i4 and 15 for the flint are fittedbetween the walls 3. The pressing means for the flint consists of a wirespring l5 one end I! of which rests against the flint l6, and the otherend against the abutment I9, it being possible by means of a handle I8to remove the clearly;

spring when it is desired to release the flint it by lifting it off anabutment l8. In order to prevent the two straight ends of the spirallywound wire spring spreading too far apart under the influences of theelastic forces therethe end of the spring is lifted away from theabutment l9, so that the end of the spring H l pressing against theflint H5 is released, keeps the two ends thereof in suitable relativeposition.

Between the walls 3 of the ignition device l a control member 2i isadjustably mounted to project into the range of movement of the lid 22of a cigarette case and by its displacement caused by the closing of thelid of the case, moves the trigger ll of the lighter 2 into a positionto bring about the ignition of the wick of the lighter. The controlmember in the example illustrated is constructed as a switch lever 2irotatably fastened to the lighter 2, and which lever is interposed inthe path of rotation of the lid 22 of the case by means of a spring 23having a straight line extension Zi inserted into theswitch lever 2|.The switch lever 2! has a cam surface 25, with which is associated aguide surface 26 connected with the trigger ll of the lighter. The camsurface 25 of the switch lever 2i which projects into the arcuate rangeof movement of the lid of the case and is rotatable by the lid out ofthis range, is inclined to the direction of rotation by movement of theswitch lever 2|, as can be seen in particular in Figs. 2 and 4, so thatit moves aside the uide surface 26 connected with the trigger ll of thelighter when the lid of the case is closed, but after the guide surface26 has been passed over by the cam 25 releases it again, so that thetrigger it returns to itsinitial position so that it is possible torepeat the operation, as will be explained in more detail. The switchlever 25 is constructed to move transversely to its direction ofrotation, so that after the guide surface 26 has been passed over andbeen pushed aside, it can pass over to rear side 21 of the latter. Forthe purpose of returning the switch lever H from its position when swungoutwardly or transversely to the direction of rotation spring 28 isprovided.

The switch lever 25 is, as already explained, mounted on the ignitiondevice, which latter is slidably mounted on the tank casing 5 of thelighter 2 by means of the walls 3. For the purpose of a safe connectionof the ignition device l with the petrol tank 5, a locking device 29, 3t

is provided, in order in particular to avoid an undesirable relativemovement between the ignition device I carrying the wick cap 6 and thetank casing carrying the burning end of the wick to be sealed by the capand which movement would prejudice the sealing of the burning end of thewick. The locking device shown is formed by a leaf spring 29 secured tothe tank and having an.extremity which is insertable in a doe pression30 formed in the wall of the ignition device When the lighter 2 ispushed into the cigarette case (see Fig. 6), the leaf Spring 29 ispressed into the. depression 30, so that a secure connection between thelighter tank and the ignition device is obtained. A reliable connection36-.

. tween these parts is necessary, because the 9.0-,

tion of the lid 22 on the switching member 2| which takes place everytime the device is used, may easily loosen or move the ignition devicerelatively to the fuel container.

The method of working the device is the fol;

lowing When the opened case is closed, th'at is, when the lid 22 of thecase is pressed against the body of the case, the wall of the lidpresses vupon the switchlever 2|, which projects into the rotation rangeof movement of the lid22, and displaces, i the lever, overcoming theforce of the spring 22,

side of the guide 26 is possible by mounting the switch lever 2|displaceable transversely to thc direction of rotation of the lid,andactuation of the spring 28. The switch lever 2| is, however, returnedby the spring 28 after its backward 1 movement around the guide 26, intoits starting position, from which it can again act on the inner side ofthe guide 26 and thereby on the trigger II when the closing of the casetakes place again.

The invention provides a cigarette case having.

a built-in or removable pyrophoric lighter which ignitesautomatically onthe closing of the lid of the case and provides an arrangement of thesimplest construction and accordingly a cigarette case,which isparticularly reliable in working, the

invention is not limited by any particular construction of the ignitiondevice, so that it can be used withoutconsiderable alteration withignition devices of the most varied construction.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

so that cam surface 25 slides on the inside face of the guide member 26connected with the trigger H and pushes it outwards, so thatthe triggerreaches the position seen in Fig. 3, and in which it has effected theignition of the wick in known manner. When the closing'of' the lid 22 ofthe case is completed the cam face 25-slides com pletely over the guidemember 26, so that the latter is released and the trigger snaps backinto its starting position (Fig. l) underthe 'action of the spring ID,with the wick cap open. (semi-automatic lighter). The case isnowcompletely closed,.the wick of the lighter is, however, burningandthe cigarette previously removed'can' be:

lighted. When the case is completely closed by the lid 22 the switchlever is hold housed within the ignition device. After the cigarette hasbeen lighted the wick cap 6 is closed in the manner known. When lid 22is again opened, the cam face 25'slides outwards along the outer side 21of the guide 26, under the influence of the force of the spring 23 andthe switch lever -2.| again takes up the position whichcan be seen fromFigs. 1, 2, 5 and 6. During the opening of the lid 22 the cam face 25does not .slide back over that side of the guide 26 on which it acted ding the displacement of the trigger H, but asses round the guide 26, andcompletes a closed linear track during the actuation of the case. The

sliding back of the cam face 25 along the outer 1. A cigarette casehaving a built-in pyrophoric lighter, a lid pivotally mounted on saidcase for movement into and out of closing position, trigger mechanismfor actuating said lighter, a displaceable lever having a portiondisposed in the path of movement of the lid, said lever and triggerhaving cooperating cam surfaces whereby the trigger is actuated by thedisplacement of the lever,the cam surface of the lever being inclined tothe directoin of movement of said lever whereby it forces away thecooperating surface of the trigger and passes th'ereover to release thelatter, tension means for returning the trigger to its initial position,and manually operable-means independent of said lid for operating saidtrigger mechanism without regard to the position of the lid.

. 2. A cigarette case having a built-in pyrophoric lighter, a lidpivotally mounted on said case for movement into and out of closingposition, ltrigger mechanism for actuating said lighter, a

displaceable lever having a portion disposed in the path of movement ofthe lid, said lever and trigger having cooperating cam surfaces wherebythe trigger is actuated by the displacement of the lever, the camsurface of the lever being inclined to the direction of movementof saidlever whereby it forces away the cooperating surface of the trigger andpasses thereover to re-- lease the latter, tension means for returningthe trigger to its initial position, a spring for retuming the leverfrom its displaced position, and manually operable means independent ofsaid lid for operating said trigger mechanism without regard to theposition of the lid.

BERNHARDT.

